Karl Rove Called "War Criminal" at Book Signing

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: Republicans

Local Video from CBS 2 / KCAL 9 in Los Angeles

Karl Rove, the former chief of staff to President George W. Bush, held a discussion Monday night in Beverly Hills, California to promote his new book, "Courage and Consequences." But the 100 or so people who showed up for the event, perhaps unsurprisingly, weren't all fans of the polarizing strategist.

As CBS2 reports, one antiwar protester deemed Rove a "war criminal," while the co-founder of the group Code Pink, Jodie Evans, showed up with a pair of handcuffs and announced that she was planning to make a citizen's arrest. Evans said Rove "lied to take us to war" and accused him of "totally ruining the country."

(Credit: AP)

At one point, Rove was reportedly "shouted down and forced to leave the stage." One woman said she took confort in the fact that Rove is "going to rot in hell."

Rove, who appeared without security, countered that the behavior of the protesters was evidence of the "totalitarianism of the left."

"They don't believe in first Amendment rights for anyone but themselves," said Rove, calling one protester a "lunatic" and demanding that another "get the heck out of here." Organizers tried to keep the protesters under control, but order was never fully restored at the event, which cost attendees $40.

Rove ultimately decided to skip the book signing portion of the program. Watch what happened in the KCAL report above.

Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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by Overruled1 April 2, 2010 1:17 PM EDT: keep up the good work code pink; Reply to this comment


by slcbizexec April 1, 2010 9:45 PM EDT: I just came across this...let Zions Bank know that they are sponsoring a war criminal, traitor, and war profiteer to speak at their conference!

https://www.zionsbank.com/biz/itb_conference.jsp

https://www.zionsbank.com/bio_index.jsp?leftNav=bios&topNav=; Reply to this comment


by ranger2930 April 1, 2010 10:53 AM EDT: Civil Discourse Sickofitall2010? I agree. But this Rove character should be carted off to jail. Treason is a war crime PDChapin. Do you know the penalty of treason during wartime? Do you know the object of Valerie Plame's undercover mission? He was just slimy enough to slide out of it then. SO thanks CodePink for doing the right thing. He hasn't gotten away with it yet. He was no doubt center in the Valerie Plame affair that Bush admitted to NIE Director he authorized the public outing of the CIA Operative. Read Scott McClellan's book "What Happened." McClellan didn't get sued for slander... wonder why?

I love hearing people trying to speak up for these dirty thugs. And explain all the good things Bush and his administration did.

I will also love the day we stop looking at democrats and republicans as football teams and look at what's going on with our government.; Reply to this comment


by sickofitall2010 April 1, 2010 9:55 AM EDT: There is plenty of demonizing being done from both side. While I am hardly a fan of Rove, or the Bush administration in general. It seems the Code Pink organization chose this venue in order to create some sensationalism. It's just another example of the breakdown in civil discourse of this country. I know plenty of good people who have a deep love of their country on both side of the aisle(I happen to be a Libertarian, and consider myself relatively conservative), and the lack of civility that some people seem to want to show towards one another upsets me.; Reply to this comment


by pdchapin April 1, 2010 9:12 AM EDT: To be a war criminal you have to personally violate one of the accepted international rules of war, order someone else to violate them or, as established by the trial of Japanese officers at the end of WWII, knowingly permit those under your command to violate them.

The rules were written by governments, are very practical, and aren't hard to stay within. When I was in the army I sat down and read the entire Geneva convention and was amazed at what I could legally do. US troops are more constrained by our own rules of engagement than by the rules of war. Generally they don't address the big questions. At the end of WWII we tried German officials and officers not for going to war but for how the war was conducted.

Rove spend his time in DC and was never in a position to personally commit a war crime. He was never in a command position so he couldn't order anybody to commit a crime or have people under him commit them. He might have advised the President to commit a war crime, but that isn't a war crime.; Reply to this comment


by U_S_Drug_Addict April 1, 2010 8:52 AM EDT: The Bald Bacon slab was shouted down? America is alive and well.; Reply to this comment


by newsworthy8 April 1, 2010 12:03 AM EDT: Couldn't happen to a better jerk, wish I was there to see his fat face trying to explain his way out of this..thanks to whoever done this..; Reply to this comment


by cbsblogger March 31, 2010 10:13 PM EDT: What does Rove know about 9-11 that we don't know?; Reply to this comment


by alanrobisch March 31, 2010 10:01 PM EDT: I see that true source of hatred in America. Its liberal's like the one posting here calling Rove a Nazi. Its truly representative of the demonizing done by liberals who they don't agree with.; Reply to this comment


by willyn3 March 31, 2010 9:41 PM EDT: Rove is clearly a war criminal on the order of Himmler but he will never see justice. America is a positive society that permits vermin to exist so that we can also have Obamas. If we had true justice we would see Cheney, Rove, Rumsfeld, Bush Jr and many others in their cabal chained together in orange jump suits marching to some courthouse. now wouldn't that be nice?; Reply to this comment